Government backflips on public housing payment

The State Government has reversed its decision and will quarantine new assistance payments being given to pensioners who live in public housing.

The Federal Government is providing pensioners with the assistance payments as part of the Carbon Tax compensation packages.

Yesterday, the Premier Colin Barnett said that the payments would be included in pensioners' salaries, forcing rents to rise for HomesWest residents who pay rent totalling 25 per cent of their income.

Federal Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin criticised the WA Government's stance, saying she wanted pensioners living in public housing to receive the full amount.

"It is not for State Governments to gobble up in public housing rents," she said.

But the Housing Minister Troy Buswell has today reversed the decision, saying the tenants will receive the full payments.

"The advice that I've received is the one off payment that pensioners will receive in May of this year, is not part of the base pension so it will be excluded for the purposes of calculating rent, so all of that money will be kept by the people that receive it," he said.

You have no doubt been hearing a lot about the Paris Agreement and know that it pertains to climate change, but are too embarrassed at this stage to ask for an overall explanation of what it's all about.